Chairman's Message

I welcome you to 2012/2013 with Pittwater Business Limited*.

As you may know, 97% of businesses in Pittwater are small businesses - so the chances of you being in this category is quite high! I own a printing business in Mona Vale and am very proud to have been Chairman of Pittwater Business Limited for the past three years – PBL is an established group that supports and nurtures the growth of this 97%.

 

Well, wasn’t this the year of change!

Some changes planned and others not, but all for the benefit of strengthening and growing Pittwater Business Limited (PBL).

This year, we saw our long term Administrator Kylie O’ Callaghan leave us in December to pursue her book writing career. We thank Kylie for being such an integral part of PBL for almost five years and wish her well in her future endeavours.

That meant we needed somebody new and, after a little search, we found Kim Jones. We welcome Kim to the PBL team and her skill set of planning and strategy that is seeing us change and streamline our operations. We thank Kim for all her work to date so far and are looking forward to the new sleeker PBL.

Of course PBL wouldn’t exist without the never ending dedication of our volunteer board of directors who endlessly give up their free time to make this happen. A big thank you to Andrew Blunden, Richard Morgan, Jeff Banks, Peter Lever and Gail Fitzpatrick. We also thank our retired directors Brian Maguire, Keith Ralfs and Mark Barrett who left us through the year to pursue other adventures, and welcome new directors Bill Adams, Emily and Ryan Fitton as well as John Scutt.

The ongoing support from Pittwater Council and our local members never ceases to amaze us for which we thank Mark Ferguson GM and his staff, in particular Lindsey Godfrey and Paul William-Smith. Paul has also become an integral part of the board, as well as the support that Rob Stokes, Harvey Rose and Bronwyn Bishop continue to give us. We also look forward to working with the recently appointed new Mayor Jacqui Townsend and her staff.

Our member database remained strong with still more than 500 members which I believe is a reflection of the strength of this organisation. Some may go but we gain new members each month and regularly see new faces at the breakfasts which is indicative of this continual growth.

The breakfasts in themselves are always an integral part of PBL’s strategy. It is a place for businesses to meet on a bi-monthly basis whilst listening to topical speakers. These speakers have been an invaluable tool to each of the events success that have drawn great crowds.

We held 5 extremely successful breakfasts throughout the year with seats selling out and numbers of attendees reaching up to 150 at an event.

These breakfast speakers and their area of expertise were:

•      Lee Ussher, how business can use social media
  
  
•      Sami Lukis, how to succeed in small business
  
  
•      Johanna Griggs, inspirational tips for small business
  
  
•      Brad Howarth, application of technology to business
  
  
•      Leonie Smith, cyber safety for businesses

We are also very proud of our fundraising efforts. This year, in conjunction with The Rotary Club of Pittwater, we hosted our annual Christmas fundraising breakfast in support of Mona Vale Hospital Palliative Care Support. This event raised $5,000 for this very worthwhile cause.

With these events being so successfully received by businesses in the community as well as in speaker’s circles, we now have a great supply of high calibre speakers who are willing to talk to businesses and assist us for future themes.

Sponsorship is an integral part to PBL and talks with potential sponsors have continued through the year.

Being a volunteer and not for profit organisation, PBL would not exist without the sponsors who have continued to support us for all this time.

We would like to thank:

• Our Gold sponsors: Bendigo Bank, Style Communications, CIMarketing, Peninsula Living and the Manly Daily, and

• Our Silver sponsors & Director sponsors: Part Time Professionals, Northstar Group, Banks Consultancy, Australoceanic, Absolute Clarity & JackaMac Marketing.

We also welcome My Life Stories, Punch Buggy Digital Agency and all our volunteers that help make the breakfasts happen.

We look forward to our annual charity event coming up in December, this year in conjunction with Surf Lifesaving Northern Beaches and hope it to be as successful as last year's.

We are also pleased that PBL is now written into the Economic Strategic Plan for Warringah and Pittwater Councils, confirming that our organisation is a required part of this community.

And with our vision now unveiled to the public for a University in Pittwater, we look forward to being an even stronger force and continue to be “the leading support network for all business in Pittwater”.

Well done everyone on another great year!

Shayna Price - Style Communications

Chairman 2012
Pittwater Business Limited

* The Chairman's address was presented at the 6th PBL Annual General Meeting, 7th November 2012, at Mona Vale Memorial Hall